Joe Spiteri Staines, the president of The Pastel Society of Malta, is exhibiting a selection of his works at the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Palazzo de la Salle, Valletta. The artist has donated all proceeds from the exhibition and sale of paintings to the Christian charity, ACN Malta, to fund humanitarian projects among displaced families in the Middle East and poor communities worldwide.

The exhibition consists of 30 paintings, all in pastel and all seascapes. Spiteri Staines tries to bring out the beauty of our sea, together with the vivid blue of the sky and the subtle hues when the sun is just rising or about to set.

The artist’s favourite medium is pastel, a medium which he feels is quite undervalued in the world of art and especially in Malta. “Pastels give one an immediacy which no other medium has and the vibrant colours achieved, due to working with pure pigment, are difficult to obtain with other media,” he says.

The artist has no pre-conceived idea as to what message his art wants to portray. He enjoys his art and wants to reproduce the beauty of nature and the world around him in a way that other people can enjoy it as well.

The exhibition runs until March 4.